Google News Gets a Dark Mode in Its Latest Android Update

Say goodbye to blinding yourself with the news every morning, as a Google News update is rolling out that introduces a dark mode to the service.

Google has been updating the designs of some of its core services for some time now. Google Photos and Android Messages were some of the latest of Google apps to receive updates that brought their looks into line with Google’s Material Design 2 style. However, don’t expect to see a radically different Google News as a result of this update. Google News is already broadly in line with Google’s current design rules, only having been launched in May 2018, as a replacement for Google Play News.

As such, it’s a minor update, only introducing a dark mode. But as anyone who’s ever browsed their phone in darkness can attest, opening your phone to a bright and blinding theme can be a horrible experience. A darker theme can be much easier on the eyes, and it’s perfect for browsing the latest breaking news just after getting up in the morning, or just before putting your head down for the night.

As such, the dark mode on Google News comes with a couple of options that can make your life a little bit easier. A pop-up will appear the first time you access Google News after the update has been installed, but if you miss checking it out from there, you can access the mode by going to Settings > Dark theme. You’ll have the option to turn it on all the time, or having it activate automatically at night time, or as part of your automatic battery saver mode. Or you can leave it off, if a blast of white photons at 6 a.m. is the only thing that gets you out of bed in the morning.

The update is currently rolling out, and if you haven’t got it yet and can’t wait, you can download the APK and sideload it into your Android device. At the moment this seems to be an Android-only update, so iOS users will have to wait a little bit longer before getting a darker mode on the iOS Google News app.